The mother of a teenage girl has warned youngsters to stay safe and vigilant after a man tried to lure her daughter into his car twice in Crieff.
Mackenzie Henderson, 15, was walking home from her friend’s house at around 9.15pm on Thursday when the man pulled up in a dark-coloured car and offered her a lift.
The teenager refused and turned down a path to get away from the vehicle, only for the car to race around to the other side of the path in an apparent attempt to cut her off.
The stranger in the car made initial contact with Mackenzie on Maxton Road in the Perthshire town before trying to get her into his car again on Alligan Road.
Mackenzie’s mother, Brenda, is speaking out to warn other parents and children to be wary, saying the man in the car was familiar with the Crieff area as he twice knew where to go to cut off her daughter’s walk home.
Brenda said: “The path my daughter chose to run along wouldn’t have been know to anyone unfamiliar to Crieff but this guy knew where the path went, as he raced round via Alligan Road to cut her off at the stairs.
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“This happened around 9.15pm, just before her curfew at 9.30pm but she never got home until 9.40pm.
“All I would want to say is for parents just to make their kids aware and to be vigilant at all times, never to walk about alone and always dial 999 if they feel in any way frightened or unsafe.”
Brenda said her daughter tried to call the police but her iPhone had switched off because of the cold temperature and would not turn on again.
Police Scotland said they are carrying out enquiries into the “suspicious” incident.
Inspector Jon Anton said : “This young girl was shaken by the incident and we carrying out door to door enquiries and reviewing local CCTV in an effort to establish the vehicle involved.
“If you were in the area around that time and saw anything suspicious, I would ask that you call on 101 quoting CR/8077/19.”
The stranger in the car is described as “scruffy with dirty blonde hair and long beard”.
Police say he is aged between 60 and 70 with broad shoulders, shoulder length blonde hair, grey or white beard and was wearing a grey coloured top and he may have worn glasses.
The car he was driving was dark in colour.
